Volunteering for less than 40 minutes has earned some students $40 each semester.

Funded by a federal grant from the National Institute of Health, the NIU Trauma Study offers students an opportunity to participate in an online survey.

Holly Orcutt, associate professor in the department of psychology, created the survey. Orcutt said her study examines how people respond to tragic events like the NIU shootings, and looks to identify factors to help develop treatments for people who are deeply impacted by trauma.

“A particularly unique aspect of this study thus far is, all of the women participated in the survey before the mass shooting and after,” Ocrutt said. “Because I have information about how they were functioning prior to the mass shooting, I am able to look at factors and protective factors in order to treat people following a mass trauma.”

Erica Medina, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, is one of the individuals that participated in the survey both before and after the shooting. Medina said she feels that students should not be compensated for their participation because it interferes with the accuracy of the study.

“Personally, I took my time with the survey because it was something that affected me personally,” Medina said. “I know some people have rushed through it because they were getting paid and I don’t think it’s fair to the researches because it interferes with their study. I think researches should only use volunteers so they can obtain sincere responses.”

Leslie Matuszewich, director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Psychology, said the trauma research experts who reviewed Orcutt’s study decided it was important and worthwhile for helping prevent post-traumatic stress disorder.

“There have been high levels of participation in this study after Feb. 14, though typically it is much harder to find participants,” Matuszewich said. “There have been several studies done to show that if you do not offer compensation, people would not participate.”